1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of devices for the physically challenged, and, more specifically, the invention relates to an apparatus for effectively operating the brakes of a wheelchair which include brake handles that are located within easy reach and are highly visible to a wheelchair occupant or attendant.
2. General Background and State of the Art
Wheelchairs are typically provided with two hand-operated brakes, one near the left wheel and the other near the right wheel of a conventional wheelchair. In such wheelchairs, the brake operating handles are located very near the actual brake shoe, and are not readily visible to either the wheelchair occupant or the attendant and may be difficult for either of them to reach the brake operating handles. Both the left side and ride side brakes must be operated in order to place the wheelchair wheels in either an unlocked or locked condition.
A common problem associated with the use of a wheelchair is the danger that the occupant of the wheelchair may fall while either being seated in or exiting the wheelchair seat. During either of those events, both wheelchair brakes should be in the locked position. If they are not locked, the wheelchair could suddenly move, thus exposing the occupant to the risk of falling and being seriously injured.
For safety reasons, the wheelchair occupant or attendant must always remember to set the brakes to the locked position prior to the occupant being seated in or exiting the wheelchair seat. This vital precaution may be overlooked or neglected by the wheelchair occupant or the attendant because of a variety of reasons, such as forgetfulness due to the lack of visibility of the brake handles, or the reluctance or inability of either to reach and operate the brakes. The attendant is generally not able to operate both brakes from the same position, but rather must operate one and then change positions to operate the other. Many occupants of wheelchairs may be fragile and may lack the strength or visual acuity to operate the brakes.
Some proposed solutions to these problems are based on providing an apparatus for wheelchair brake operation where the brakes are set in the unlocked condition while the occupant is seated in the wheelchair, but lock automatically when the occupant begins to rise to exit the wheelchair and the apparatus detects that the occupant's weight is rising off of the wheelchair seat. Such an apparatus is generally complex and needs to be adjusted to suit the occupant's weight, providing another safety risk that must be addressed by the occupant and/or the attendant. Such an apparatus must be able to be adapted to a variety of users in situations where the wheelchair is used in a hospital, nursing home or hospice. Rental wheelchairs of such a design would also present this same issue.
Because the aforementioned type of wheelchairs, which depend on shifting of the weight of the occupant for operation, will remain locked when there is no occupant in the wheelchair, a means must be provided to release the brakes when the wheelchair is unoccupied so that the wheelchair may be easily moved, thus necessitating an additional mechanism to unlock the brakes. Such wheelchairs as these, with all of the additional mechanisms required for safe operation, may be difficult to fold and store.
Another attempt to resolve the problems of conventional wheelchairs is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,315,085 (Dahlem). Dahlem discloses a semiautomatic wheelchair brake application apparatus that depends on force applied by the forearms and hands of the wheelchair occupant when the occupant begins to rise from the wheelchair seat. Dahlem includes a left side and right side brake apparatus each having an actuator lever arm installed on the same level as and in conjunction with the wheelchair arm rest. The Dahlem actuator lever positions are described as “upwardly angled” to “parallel to the wheelchair arm,” and from “essentially vertical” to “substantially horizontal.” When the actuator lever arm is in an upward configuration in relation to the arm rest of the wheelchair, the ability of the occupant to rest his or her arm on the arm rest may be impeded and thus the occupant may be made uncomfortable. The brake apparatus disclosed in Dahlem is used in conjunction with the existing wheelchair brakes, and thus the required force for the user to operate the brakes may be substantial and difficult to estimate. Furthermore, the brake apparatus system disclosed in Dahlem will have a tendency for the brake shoe on the brake apparatus to drag on the wheel, thus wearing out the tires and likely requiring more force to propel the wheelchair due to the drag forces.
There thus exists a need for a brake apparatus for each side of a wheelchair that provides an easily visible and reachable brake handle that is easily operable by either the wheelchair occupant and/or the attendant. There also exists a need for a wheelchair brake apparatus that may be operated from a single position, may be operated independent of the weight of the occupant, does not interfere with the ability of the wheelchair occupant to rest his or her arms on the wheelchair arm rests, enables the wheelchair to be conveniently folded for storage, and also provides a means to limit the motion of the brake handle so that the wheelchair brake shoe does not rub on the wheel.